McElhinney leads a better looking Flames to victory

The Calgary Flames have the flu bug and it hit hard with starting goalie Mikka Kiprusoff. So going into the night, the Flames used the back up Curtis McElhinney. The main problem heading into the game was not going with  the back up, it was the players in front of him who seem to forget how to play.

The Flames minds consistently go and they seem to forget how to hit and  how to play responsibly in their own zone.   They had to start playing defensive zone hockey, start noticing where your coverage has to be.,the blind passes had to stop.

I know that Curtis McElhinney has to be consistently better than he has in the past, but that does not mean the team should quit in front of him.  The main problem in Dallas tonight was that the Flames were taking lazy penalties. Conroy takes a lazy penalty in the first two minutes.  Dawes takes a silly hooking penalty, all the Flames were in the zone back.  On the bright side, the penalty kill was very good, and Robin Regher was a monster in the first period. Then, later in the period, Pardy saves a goal and takes a hooking penalty.  Jay Bo takes a cross checking , but the Flames penalty kill. The Flames get out of the period at no score, which is amazing, considering that the Flames killed half period  with penalties.  The Flames were out-shot 14-6. McElhinney had his best period as a Flame. He was outstanding for the first period.

A much better 2nd period for the Flames, as they did not take the silly penalties they did in the first period. They were pretty sound defensively for most of the second period. Iggy  was a monster tonight, playing with a chip on his shoulder. He seem to be on a mission this game.  Curtis continues to be a stud this game, including stopping a penalty shot.  The Flames kill another penalty, and Curtis meanwhile robs Neil.  The Flames and Stars are hitting big time, which reminds me, Regher got away with one on a head shot on Stephane Robidas. I think it should have been maybe a 2 minute penalty.  Iggy takes a tremendous wrist shot off of a turnover to take a 1-0 lead. Curtis is at it again with a fantastic save off Ribiero.   The Flames seem to feed off the Iggy goal at the end of the period, but if it was not for McElhinney, this game would not be close, as the Stars have outshot the Flames 30-17.  By far, this has been Curtis’ best performance as a Flame.

There are some good things happening this game. The team is playing with chips on their shoulders. The second period was much better, as they played more cleanly and frankly more responsible in the second period.  Win or lose, I have to be happy with the performance and very happy with Curtis McEhinney, including a great save off of a penalty shot.   The Flames have to shut down the Stars, play to win, not just not to lose.

Third period the Flames started off slow, but Jay Bo made a fantastic defensive play in the third.  Curtis continues to be outstanding and continues to make very good saves, including an outstanding save off of Wandell.  The Flames  totally lose control as Neal ties this game with a terrific wrist shot.  Boyd and Glencross have a great shift after they allowed the game to be tied.  The Flames have two great shifts in a row after the goal. The Flames get a powerplay, but they do not capitalize. The Stars score what looked like the game winning goal in the third period by Eriksson   The Flames tie the game late, with Daymond Langkow doing the honors. I might add the best line tonight was that second  line.

The overtime was the worse overtime call ever. I mean, that was not even close. Grossman was clearly outside his zone. Totally blown call.  I’m very happy for the Flames, but the Stars deserve better.   Because that penalty call cost the Stars the game as Iggy shoots a howitzer in the corner.  The Flames grab two points. They did not deserve it, but you have to give them credit for capitalizing on the powerplay in the third.  That was big.  By the way, that was the third time this season the Flames scored in the last minute.   Second time this season they forced a game to go into overtime.

I really feel good  for Curtis, who did everything he could  for this win for the Flames tonight. Like I say, there are a lot of positives. The penalty kill was very good and Curtis was outstanding to get the two points. The only thing that really concerns me is still the Flames defensive play-to-lose in the defensive zone.   Although tonight it was much better, there was not as many bad giveaways as in the two previous games.   Iggy showed up tonight, October must be over. Flames win the game in overtime 3-2.

Until Next time take care

Randy